2017 Nierstein HIPPING Riesling HM Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken Klaus Peter Keller, Rheinhessen (0,75l)

Mosel Fine Wines - 2017 Nierstein HIPPING Riesling HM Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken, Klaus Peter Keller

This 2017er Niersteiner Hipping GG delivers a beautiful nose where reductive elements including minty herbs, smoke, bacon and needle provide the frame for some glorious scents of grapefruit, tangerine, candied lime, fresh almond and coconut. The wine has the purity and lightness of mountain water yet its complexity and density on the mid-palate are just stunning. One can feel the intensity from the high levels of dry extracts but these are magnificently wrapped into spicy and salty elements. The length and impact in the finish are stunning. The after-taste seems to last for minutes. The wine is almost painfully dry at this stage, but the sheer freshness, intensity and complexity are simply breathtaking. This grandiose expression of dry Riesling may well turn into wine perfection in a decade: It is THAT impressive! 2027-2047 (Reprint from Mosel Fine Wines Issue No 43 – October 2018). - Jun. 2019

Vinous - 2017 Nierstein HIPPING Riesling HM Grosses Gewächs Q.b.A. trocken, Klaus Peter Keller

Given the superb performance of this year’s (largely Hipping) village-level Niersteiner, Keller served me this Hipping immediately thereafter, thus emphasizing why he chose not to include fruit from the uppermost or lowest part of the slope in his Grosses Gewächs. The animating brightness and tang conveyed here by fresh lemon, tangerine and pineapple near the core – anticipated on the wine’s effusive nose – translate into consummate refreshment and mouth-shaking vibrancy. There is a remarkable sense throughout this performance of transparency to myriad aromatic as well as tactile nuances. Iris and gentian perfume, smoke, stone, green tea and sea salt all combine for a superb show and linger with haunting, mouthwatering persistence. The texture is silken and there is a sense of lift that belies the 13% alcohol indicated on the wine’s label. Impressive though this already is, I feel confident that it will prove even better with time in bottle. - David Schildknecht, Jul. 2019